READING LIST: PREPARING FOR BABY

I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing about how much pregnancy stuff to put on the blog and, especially, how to make it food-related, but I've come to the conclusion that the pregnancy things I've enjoyed reading the most are by people I already know through social media and blogging. That personal angle is so much more important to me than what can be found in a book, and I've really relied more on word of mouth than anything else throughout many aspects of my pregnancy. With that in mind, this reading list is somewhat short and sweet, but I hope anyone with a baby on the way or who is just interested finds this list useful. I should note here, the list of actual books is short, but my descriptions are quite lengthy!

3-A-DAY PREGNANCY SMOOTHIES

Thanks to bad organisation on my part and a slightly up-in-the-air living situation, I had a horrible diet during my first trimester. My usual healthy dinners and money-saving leftovers lunches fell by the wayside while I stayed part of the week with my parents - who were looking after our dog while Darren re-decorated our flat to put it on the market - and I lost all interest in food.

CORONATION CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables, but we usually have it smothered in cheese, so it was nice to experiment with it in a lighter, fresher guise for summer. This curried cauliflower recipe is a riff on coronation chicken - it's lightly spiced with curry powder, but for me its the sultanas and coriander that bring this dish to life. I stirred in a little yoghurt, but this vegetarian recipe could easily be made vegan by leaving it out. We hoovered it up with cous cous for a simple supper, but it would also make a tasty barbecue side dish or addition to a mezze platter.

APPLE, LEMONGRASS + MINT MOCKTAILS

There are a lot more of these non-alcoholic babies on the horizon because...I'm pregnant! When this post goes live I'll be about 18 weeks along, so nearly halfway through. The last month we have slowly been telling family and friends, but it's felt weird not mentioning it online; not that I have been wanting to do a big 'reveal' - actually the whole idea of it makes me quite shy! - but there have been a few times on Twitter where I've wanted to be like, 'sorry, what happens when the baby is a week old!!?' etc. and not been able to join in.

BALI HONEYMOON

It's been more than six months since we got back from our honeymoon! I wasn't going to share anything at all about our trip to Bali and the Gili Islands because we didn't do anything particularly noteworthy beyond lazing by the pool, walking on the beach and eating street food - or rather, I didn't take any pictures of anything noteworthy! But in the end it's nice to have memories to look back on and I'd all but forgotten to look at the photos since we got back, and I think I'm going to print the one above - a shame Darren's not in it!

SPAGHETTI ALLE VONGOLE

When everyone's out, I like to make something special just for me - especially if it's something Darren doesn't really like. It's never anything complicated, sometimes just a plate of random things I've been craving that don't really go together! Having it feel like a bit of an occasion, making a looked-forward to dinner and catching up on my favourite TV shows (have really enjoyed The Replacement, Line of Duty, Girls and The Crown recently) means I really value those solo nights in!

FENNEL SAUSAGE FLATBREAD PIZZAS

Nearly a year ago (!), my brilliant pal - and super wedding photographer - Jo popped round for a morning of making and baking. I made apple crumble sundaes and flatbread pizzas and Jo took some lovely photos for me to use on my blog; I posted the pesto breakfast pizza version of this recipe last year and after having a hankering for these fennel sausage ones, realised I hadn't posted this recipe and its accompanying batch of photos. 

NEW YORK-STYLE VALENTINE'S COOKIES

I spent four years living in New York when I was very small and ever since, white chocolate chip cookies have remained one of my mum's favourite things. This recipe comes from Molly O'Neill's The New York Cookbook, a hefty tome that has recipes from all over the city which, of course, means there are dishes to cook from all over the world. My mum has annotated recipes with things like YES!! and DOUBLE IT! in the margins, which makes it even more fun to flip through.

A note before I share the recipe, these cookies are slim and crisp - they stay deliciously chewy in the centre but they're definitely not chunky, melty cookies; the book says "these are easy to make and absolutely delicious. They develop a butterscotch flavour as they bake and are extremely fragile." So there you go!